Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

ERVIN, Booker

(b Booker Telleferro Ervin, 31 Dec. '30, Denison, Texas; d 31 July '70, NYC, of kidney disease). Tenor sax. Played trombone as a boy; self-taught on tenor but later studied tenor and theory at Berklee in Boston. Played in USAF '51--2; toured with R&B band of Ernie Fields '54--8; then to NYC '58 and often with Charles Mingus until '62. Most of '64--6 in Europe, again '68. Sinewy, virile Texas tenor style on both blues and ballads. Solos on Randy Weston LP African Cookbook; Mingus albums Blues & Roots, Oh Yeah, Mingus Ah Um, Mingus Dynasty, others. Own albums incl. small-group sets with excellent co-stars: The Book Cooks '60 on Bethlehem; Cookin' '60 on Savoy (also issued as Down In The Dumps with additional tracks from '61); That's It! '61 on Candid. On Prestige: Exultation and The Freedom Book '63; The Song Book, The Blues Book, The Space Book '64; Setting The Pace (with Dexter Gordon) and The Trance '65; Heavy! '66. On Blue Note: The 'In' Between and Booker Ervin '68, the latter a two-disc set incl. an LP originally under Horace Parlan's name. Also a quartet LP with Ted Curson '66 on Dutch Fontana; Structurally Sound '66 and Booker And Brass '67 on Pacific Jazz, the latter a big-band set. Track 'Blues For You' from Berlin Jazz Festival '65 incl. on an Enja LP, the other side by Parlan.